Thread extractor for weft replenishing looms



July 9, 1940. R. e. TURNER THREAD'EXTRACTOR FOR WEFT REPLENISHING LOOMS Filed June 9, 1939 Q BN INVENTOP. RICHARD G. TURNER AT TORNEY Patented July 9, 1940 UNITED STATES THREAD EXTRACTOR FOR WEFT I REPLENISHING LOOMS Richard G; Turner, Worcester, Mass assignor to Orompton 8; Knowles Loom Works, Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts.

Application June 9, 1939, Serial No. 278,315

7 Claims.

This is a continuation in part of my co-pending application Serial No. 190,637.

This invention relates to improvements in thread removers for weft replenishing looms and it is the general object of the invention to provide a mechanism of this type more particularly adaptable for use with very fine yarns.

In my co-pending application Serial No. 190,637 I have shown a vertical tube having an intake mouth below which is a forwardly projecting tongue. The tube is normally raised and is depressed at the time of transfer so that the tongue lies below the shuttle race and travels forwardly in a mass of upstanding pile tufts. The purpose of the latter is to hold frictionally the weft thread extending from the selvageinto the shuttle box so that the tongue will pass under it as the lay moves rearwardly. v

In the weaving of very fine wefts I find that the tongue as originally used has a tendency to bend the tufts forwardly and carry the weft thread with them in a downward direction below. the tongue. Under these conditions the thread is not presented to the intake mouth of the extractor tube and remains on the shuttle race. I have found that this condition can be corrected if the tongue which enters the pile tufts is shaped in such a way as to deflect the pile yarns laterally. This result can be accomplished by making the advancing edge of the tongue in the form of a wedge which will bend the tufts in line With the point of the wedge before the tufts lying at either side of the point are deflected. These latter tufts support the fine yarn until the advancing point is under the thread, after which the tufts may be bent down but without having the effect of moving the thread out of the path of the tongue, since the latter is already under the thread. It is therefore an important object of my present invention to form the tongue in such a way that it causes lateral deflection of the tufts progressively in a direction forwardly from the reed.

I have also found that very fine weft has a tendency to adhere to the pile tufts which are located between the shuttle box and the vertical tube with such tenacity as to resist the tractive force of the draft of air moving into the intake mouth. It is a further object of my present invention to reduce the frictional hold of the'tufts on the thread between the thread extractor and shuttle to an amount which will not interfere with the pneumatic tractive efiort of the air draft on the thread. In this .way I can use, the subatmospheric pressures which I ficient with heavier yarn;

With these and other objects in have found sufview which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described'and set forth.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein a convenient embodiment of my invention is set forth,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of those parts of a pneumatic thread extractor to which my invention more particularly relates as viewed from the center of the loom, certain parts being in section,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged'plan View in the direction of arrow 2, Fig. l,

Fig. 3 is a bottom View ofthe extractor tube looking in the direction of arrow 3-, Fig. 1, and

Figs. l, 5 and 6 are diagrammatic vertical 1 sections on lines 44, 55 and 66, respectively,

of Fig. 2. a f

Referring to the drawing, I have shown a 100m frame l5, breast beam l6 and lay ll of usual construction except for matter to be described hereinafter on the lay. The latter has a shuttle box B to receive a shuttle S from which a weft thread W extends toward the selvage of the fabric F.

The reserve bobbin magazine 30 may oscillate about an axis 3| by mechanism shown for instance'in my prior Patent No. 2,128,974. The magazine includes a transfer arm 35 movable about a pivot 36 when a latch 37 is struck in the usual manner by forward motion of a dagger 38 on the lay, thus depressing the transfer arm to effect transfer. A cutter arm 46 pivoted about a vertical pin M carries a cutter blade 44 to cooperate with a plate 45 on the shuttle to sever the weft W on transferring beats of the loom.

A rod Ill mounted in a carrier ll pivoted on a stud 72 carriesa vertical tube 90 connected by a hose 9! to an air pump not shown herein but similar to that set forth in my previously mentioned application. The tube 953 is held in a head 82 on the forward end of a rod 76 by set screw NH, and a roll 83 on the head 82 is placed for engagement with a cam 84 secured to the transfer arm 35. A friction disk 75 between disks l3 and p 14, see Fig. 1, holds the. tube 96 and-rod 76 against pivotal motion around thestud 72 by their own weight so thatthese parts must be acted upon positively in order to effect their movement. A screw 80 on the lay is positioned for engagement with the carrier 1| as the lay approaches back center, while cooperation between the cam 84 and the roll 83 operates to lower the tube 96 when thearm 35- descends on a transferring beat of the loom. The lay is provided with a transverse slot 60 in which is mounted a mass of pile tufts Bl to be described more in detail hereinafter.

Except for modification which will be mentioned later, the matter thus far described is substantially the same as that set forth in my copending application Serial No. 190,637 to which reference may be had for a more complete description of the structure and operation of the parts which effect lowering and subsequent raising of tube 90 and also the general function of the pile tufts 6!. It is thought sufficient for present purposes to state that the tube 90 is normally raised and is depressed on ransferring beats of the loom when the lay is on front center to lower the bottom end of tube 90 toward the pile tuft 6|. An air pump not shown then causes an inrush of air into mouth M of tube 90 to exert a pneumatic tractive force on the thread during backward motion of the lay, after which the tube 90 is raised to its normal position as the lay reaches back center through the co-action of carrier H and lay carried screw 80.

My present improvements relate more particularly to the shape of the bottom of tube 90 and also the pile tufts GI and the relation each of these features sustains to the other in requiring the thread W to come under conrol of the tube 98 and the upward draft of air which is induced therein to suck the thread into the tube.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 3 it will be seen that the tongue 50 which projects obliquely in a direction downwardly and forwardly from the tube 9% is wedge shaped, having angular sides Ii! which merge at a point 52. When the tube 90 is lowered the point 52 sinks into the pile tufts 55 to a point ordinarily below a thread which may be resting on top of the tufts. It is to be understood that the tube 90 is lowered when the lay is in the forward part of its stroke and will therefore be located behind the thread W as indicated in Fig. 2. The pointed tongue 50 therefore projects forwardly toward the thread W and will remain in down position during the backward motion of the lay. During this backward motion the thread W which is supported on the tops of the piles GI will be carried toward the tongue As already stated, previous constructions of the tongue have been such as to bend the tufts forwardly with a resultant lowering of the weft W. With the tongue formed as already described, however, the advancing point effects a separation of the tufts 62 into two groups one of which is deflected laterally to the right as at 53, Fig. 5, and the other of which is bent to the left, as at 54.

It is to be understood that the first of the piles so to be deflected lie in the rather narrow path of the point 52, thereby leaving those tufts which are near the edge of the mass still erect to support the weft W in a position above. the point 52. As the lay recedes the pile tufts carry the weft toward the tongue and the width of the deflected group of tufts 6i increases after the point 5! has safely moved to a position under the thread. Lateral deflection of the remaining threads, which up to this time have supported the thread W, may therefore now occur without danger that tongue 5i] will pass over the thread. The latter will remain above the tongue and as a sub-atmospheric pressure is created in the tube 9| the thread will be sucked into the intake mouth M because of previous cutting at the shuttle plate 35.

Another feature of my invention is set forth in Fig. 6 where it will be seen that the thread W is in contact with more tufts at the left of the extractor 90 than at the right thereof. By referring to Fig. 2 it will be understood that the weft thread which extends from the extractor to the thread cutter is free at its right end subsequent to transfer and during the first part of the rearward motion of the lay. When the thread isvery fine it has a tendency to adhere to the tufts, which are to the right of the extractor mouth and may in fact extend rearwardly from the extractor in contact with a part of the deformable material at the right of the tongue. This establishes a relatively high frictional resistance which cannot always be overcome by the pneumatic attraction of the extractor with the result that the thread, instead of being drawn into the mouth M, remains in contact with the top of the pile tufts. This condition does not arise with heavier types of weft but may exist if very fine filling is used.

In order to lessen the frictional resistance beween the weft thread and the tufts between the extractor and the thread cutter I cut the tufts at the right of the strip shown in Fig. 2 to a lower level as indicated at 55 in Fig. 6. As shown in the last named figure the weft thread will extend from the high tufts to the right and along the lay while in contact with but a very few of the tufts to the right of tongue 5. This same result may conceivably be obtained by using a narrower strip of tuft fabric with the tongue at the right edge thereof, but the same loom will ordinarily be used for weaving fabrics calling for wefts of different weights andI prefer to keep the tuft material of a width substantially as indfcated in thedrawing so that it may be used with either fine or coarse yarns.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a pneumatic thread extractor having an intake mouth with a tongue so formed as to create lateral deflection of the weft thread supporting pile tufts, thereby holding the thread in a sufliciently high position to permit the tongue to pass under it. It will further be seen that the pile tufts are deflected progressively so that some of them are of suificient height to support the weft thread W at the correct elevation to permit passage of the tongue point 52 under the thread. It will furtherv be seen that the pile tufts at one side of the tube may be of reduced height to reduce the tractive force which they have for the thread and permit the latter to be drawn into the tube 90.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In a thread control mechanism for a loom having a lay provided with a shuttle from which a thread extends to the adjacent selvage, a mass of deformable material extending across the top of the lay under the thread, the thread being held frictionally on the top of said mass of deformable material, and a pneumatic thread extractor having a pointed tongue extending below the surface of said mass of deformable material, rearward motion of the lay causing lateral displacement of a portion of said material by the point of the tongue while other portions of the material are out of contact with the tongue to support the thread and enable the point of the tongue to pass under the thread.

2. In a thread control mechanism for a loom having a lay provided with a shuttle from which a thread extends to the adjacent selvage, a mass of upstanding pile tufts extending across the top of the lay under the thread, the thread being held frictionally on the top of said pile tufts, and a pneumatic thread extractor having a pointed tongue extending into and below the surface of certain of said pile tufts, rearward motion of the lay causing lateral displacement of certain of said pile tufts by the point of the tongue while other of said pile tufts are out of contact with the tongue to support the thread and enable the point of the tongue to pass under the thread.

3. In a thread control mechanism for a loom having a lay carrying a shuttle from which a weft thread extends to the adjacent the selvage, a mass of substantially vertical deflectable fibrous tufts carried by the lay under the thread, the latter extending across and being frictionally held by the upper ends of said tufts, and a thread extractor having a wedge shaped tongue to extend below the tops of said tufts, said extractor effective when in close proximity to said thread to remove the same from the lay, rearward motion of the lay carrying the thread and tufts engaged thereby toward said extractor by reason of the frictional contact between the tuftsand the thread, and the tongue deflecting certain of said tufts laterally to pass under the thread while other tufts out of the deflecting influence of the tongue support the thread.

4. In a thread controlling mechanism for a loom having a lay carrying a shuttle from which a thread extends toward the adjacent selvage, a strip of pile fabric extending across the lay and having tufts under the thread in frictional contact with the latter, a thread extractor normally above the lay out of the path of the shuttle and having a pointed part, means to depress the thread extractor and cause the pointed part thereof to project into the tufts below the level of the thread, and means rendering said extractor effective to remove the thread from the lay when said thread is in proximity to the extractor, rearward motion of the lay causing said pointed part to effect lateral displacement ofcertain of the tufts in engagement with the thread and pass under the latter while other of said tufts out of contact with said pointed part support the thread.

5. In a thread controlling mechanism for a loom having a lay carrying a shuttle from which a thread extends to the adjacent selvage', a mass of deformable material extending across the lay under the thread and by which the latter is held frictionally on the top of said material, a pneumatic thread extractor having a guide tongue with a pointed end extending into the deformable material to a point below the upper surface thereof, and means to support the thread extractor with said pointed end of the tongue below the upper surface of the deformable material as the lay moves rearwardly, rearward motion of the lay moving the thread toward the tongue and causing the point of the latter to pass under the thread while laterally deflecting a portion only of the deformable material under the thread and thereby direct the thread to the extractor and at a level above said pointed end, and means to cause removal of the thread from the lay by a draft of air passing through the thread extractor.

6. In a thread control mechanism for a loom having a lay provided with a shuttle from which a thread extends to the adjacent selvage, a mass of deformable material having spaced edges extend transversely across the lay,- said deformable material being under the thread and holding the latter frictionally by engagement between the thread and the top of said material, and a pneumatic thread extractor having a pointed tongue extending below the surface of the deformable material at a point between and spaced from said edges of the material, rearward motion of the lay causing the deformable material to move the thread toward the tongue and the latter because of the pointed shape thereof effecting lateral displacement of a portion of the material between the edges and passing under the thread while the latter is supported by that part of the material adjacent an edge thereof.

7. In a thread control mechanism for a loom having a lay provided with a shuttle from which a thread extends to the adjacent selvage, a mass of deformable material of given width extending across the lay under -the thread and the upper part of which has frictional contact with the thread, and a pneumatic thread extractor having a pointed part of less width than said given width projecting below the top of said material, rearward motion of the lay causing the deformable material to move the thread toward said part and the latter by reason of the pointed shape thereof causing lateral displacement of a portion of the material and passing under the thread while the latter is supported by another portion of the material.

RICHARD G. TURNER. 

